We are a St. Louis based Car Club that has an active membership in excess of 150+ members and growing. We were founded in 1944, we are one of the oldest surviving car clubs in the world.

In 1944, the year the Horseless Carriage Club of Missouri was founded, the clouds of war still hung over Europe and Japan. Many of the pre-early 1940s cars went the way of the scrap heap and then the smelter. It was a sad ending for many prestigious and fine motorcars. Still, some folks had put cars away in barns and long-forgotten garages. However, there were few “car collectors” and aficionados at the time. Cars were considered transportation and purely utilitarian. Besides, with a war on, there was little focus on preserving what we now would consider antique and classic vehicles. Surprisingly though, in St. Louis, there were a group of individuals that began to meet to discuss cars and reminisce about the good old days — the days of four wheels and no brakes!

Many of these individuals had ties to the automotive world since St. Louis was, for a time, the automotive capital of the United States. For years we were then second only to Detroit. The early founders of HCCM amounted to five men and that list included George P. Dorris, Alex Deeken, Harry Rook, Wayne Bledsoe, and Frank Steward. All were automotive pioneers. We trace our beginnings back to December 5th, 1944. That’s when the small group of folks who used to gather informally to discuss cars and periodically do “Brass Era” tours decided to become an organized body. The HCCM is the oldest regional club of its type in America. We are also the oldest region affiliated with the Horseless Carriage Club of America. By 1962 there were 75 “member families” in the HCCM. That was a lot back then and the club dominated the regional vintage car scene. 1962 was the year that the Easter Concours d’Elegance was born. This is what gave the Horseless Carriage Club of Missouri a public face.

Ever since, no other antique car show in the Greater St. Louis area has held such appeal to the public for so many decades. It is a legendary tradition. What caused the change and why did “old” cars suddenly have an appeal. People have fond memories of the past — the legends of the silver screen immortalized the automobile with greats such as Harlow, West, Gable, Garland and others. History has a way of guilding even the worst of times.